Cool beans. I'm currently studying Irish folklore. The Ban Sidhe are very much like the Fylgjur of my own kind. Ancestral spirits, whose job it was to manicure death along familial lines.

In Maine, there is a different idea of the Banshee. The Banshee has become a woodland spirit here, something that lives in the forests and causes the shrieking of the wind. She loves to steal wandering children where they will be taught to sing like the wind.

Thank you very much for your comment. And sorry for the late answer. I find it very interesting that in Maine is a sort of Banshee. As I love different types of folklore and ghost stories from all around the world, are there any other creatures from folklore in Maine? Oh, and Maine is one of the moste interesting US-States for me. Maybe because of all the Stephen King books and the crimi-TV-Series: "Murder she wrote" with Angela Lansbury.

The terrible irony... many of us Mainers take Mr. King for granted. And are irritated that all his movies are filmed in Away.

We have folklore creatures, yes. New England has a large tradition of Poltergeist. But we also have what you might call Road Ghosts - in old towns with dark woodland paths, people often feel ghosts at their back.

New England is a ghostly place. We're loaded with the kind of weather and scenery that breaks the barrier of here and the after... I have a couple things in my profile about Maine supernatural. You might like them, might not.

You are right.I also think spirit would be better world,since well ghost is dead person and spirit is supernatural otherwordly creature.And,with coming of Christianity,it was said that fairies are ghosts of pagans,which was invented to scare people into becoming Christians,following"Christians go to Heaven,bad people to hell,and good non-Christians are turned into crazy unnatural creatures,not good enough for Heaven but not bad enough for Hell."Priests played with pagan's fear of supernatural creatures of old and adapted folklore,that's from where female ancestor is banshee came from (specifically if clans claimed that their founder took fairy for wife,that's now crying for her descendants).

From what I understand about banshees is that both views are correct. They are ghostlike creatures but are also part of the little folk, the fairies, leprechauns and so on. It is said that every bigger family in Ireland has their own banshee and sometimes even it is said that this banshee is actually the ghost of a female ancestor. And not all banshees are beautiful in some parts of Ireland they are old ugly ladies. But the most popular banshee is the young beautiful woman with long flowing hair.

I guss spirit would be a more proper translation. I have to admit that this drawing is a few years old and my english was back then not so proper as it is today. And the German word "Geist" is used synonymously to "Ghost" (an apparition of a deceased person) and "Spirit" (an elemental being like fairies for example). And in several of my ghost books banshees are mentioned as part of the rich ghoste lore of Irelan. So I guess the distinction is not so extreme.